Citizen activists have been behind many of the key environmental improvements in the United States. Check out my favorite movie, Erin Brokovich, to see just one of thousands of examples of citizens pushing successfully for change. Not so in China. Doesn't change start at the top there? Maybe not.

Suddenly we have environmentalist Ma Jun popping up all over the place, forcing the government to increase air pollution monitoring in Beijing, developing the Green Choice Alliance to marshal consumer buying power to environmental ends, and engaging polluters. Now he has won the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize, the most important award for global environmental activism.

If you're not familiar with Ma Jun, you soon will be. Originally focused on “China's Water Crisis" (also the title of his book), he founded the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs to engage the public by providing information. IPE has created online pollution maps that have exposed over 90,000 air and water violations to date in their efforts to fight weak enforcement in China. Ma Jun does more than just expose polluters, he also engages them constructively.

Ma Jun is tireless, his focus on the power of information is spot on, his achievements are impressive, and he has a lot more to contribute. Check out the video on his work that the Goldman Environmental Prize folks put together.